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Saturday, August 16, 2014

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

Note: This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

It’s funny how the 80s are full of movies that are basically content to
stay there and we, as an audience, are content to leave them there.
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a movie that I think most people would
be happy to leave in the 80s. Why did I rent it? I’ll get to that
later. First, I’ll explain what the movie is about.

Mike and
Debbie are making out in the back of a truck when they see a streak of
light in the night sky. At Debbie’s insistence, they follow it. A
farmer and his dog find the spaceship first, only to be captured by a
giant clown. As you might expect from a giant clown in an 80s film, the
spaceship outwardly appears to be a giant circus tent. Yes, this might
appear odd in a forest if not for the fact that the ship is so deep in
the forest that you can’t see it from outside of the forest.

When
Mike and Debbie arrive, there’s no trace of the guy that was there
earlier, meaning that there‘s no one to warn them not to go in. What do
they do? They find an entrance and go in. They find all sorts of
things you might expect from a circus-tent-shaped space ship with giant
clowns in an 80s film. They have popcorn and cotton candy. The thing
is that everything has a sinister purpose.

Mike and Debbie soon
discover that the alien clowns are kidnapping people and using them for
food. They have to warn someone, so they go to the sheriff. The
sheriff doesn’t take them seriously, of course, but Debbie used to date
the deputy. The three of them go back in an effort to protect the town
and, possibly, the whole world.

I don’t think I need to go into
detail about the rest of the movie. Being an 80s B-movie about clowns,
there’s a lot of cheesy stuff, a lot of slapstick and a lot of stuff
I’ve forgotten about already. And, of course, the town ends up safe and
the clowns won‘t be going on to bother anyone else. The entire thing
comes across as over-the-top cornball by today’s standards. Even by 80s
standards, it would have had to have been very corny.

I don’t
think modern writing and effects could have saved this movie. It’s hard
to take the movie seriously as either a horror film or as a comedy. If
you were wondering why I rented this movie, you’re probably still
asking yourself the same question. Why would I sit through the entire
thing? I had actually been looking for another movie. I’m pretty sure
it involved clowns that were used as hit men, but stopped shooting at
the main characters because it was time to take a lunch break. This
wasn’t the movie, so if this sounds at all familiar, please leave a
comment.

I got Killer Klowns From Outer Space free on demand, so I
didn’t really lose any money. It was entertaining enough that I wanted
to see how it ended. If I had paid money for this, I think I would
have felt cheated. If the movie comes on TV or you can otherwise get it
at no cost, go for it. Otherwise, I’d think twice.